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Science of Sleep, The
Warner Independent Pictures


7.8

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 58 votes
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FILM:

MUSIC:

Charlotte Gainsbourg: 5:55

MPAA RATING: R for language, some sexual content and nudity

Starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alain Chabat, Miou-Miou, Emma de Caunes, Aurélia Petit, Sacha Bourdo, and Pierre Vaneck

The Science of Sleep is a playful romantic fantasy set inside the topsy-turvy brain of Stephane Miroux (Bernal) an eccentric young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life. (Warner Independent Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Fantasy \| Foreign \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Michel Gondry
DIRECTED BY:	Michel Gondry
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 6, 2007 Theatrical: September 22, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	105 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France
LANGUAGE(S):	Spanish / English / French (with English subtitles)

Original title "La Science des Rêves"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

An indie version of Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," albeit with none of the star power, a quarter of the budget, half the angst, and twice the charm.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

It's not likely you'll see a film more visually exhilarating until, well, Gondry's next.

TV Guide Ethan Alter

Bernal continues to demonstrate an impressive range; the character requires the normally laid-back actor to be a wild ball of energy, and he's more than up to the challenge. His performance is hilarious, heartfelt and more than a little creepy, which could also be said about the movie itself.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

This scruffy, unkempt tale lacks the narrative satisfaction of Kaufman's dramatic design, but between the chaotic zigs and creative jags, it proclaims its own kind of messy authenticity and a bittersweet beauty.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

This fascinating and occasionally transporting film never quite transforms into something really great.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Very difficult to characterize and that's why I like it. The best I can do is to call it a sunny tragedy.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

It's rare for young actors to exude as much charisma and charm as Gainsbourg and García Bernal.

Slate Dana Stevens

To me, the movie feels like a small but ingeniously crafted gift.

Film Threat Sally Foster

The Science of Sleep truly has to be seen to be believed.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Sweet, crazy, and tinged with sadness, Michel Gondry's new feature The Science of Sleep is a wondrous concoction.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

For the soul of Gondry's work, it seems to me, is neither its soaring flights of visual fancy nor its sometimes crude slapstick, but rather its pained understanding of a generation hopelessly tongue-tied when it comes to matters of the heart.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

No one who sees it will confuse it with anything else. Fans of Gondry's DIY low-tech aesthetic, which he blends, as always, with exceptionally sophisticated animation techniques, will adore it.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Gondry is a soft surrealist without much of a sociopolitical agenda, closer to Dr. Seuss than Luis Buñuel,

Empire Oliver Richards

It suffers occasionally from self-consciousness and over-indulgence in its own oddity, but Gondry’s grasp of emotion and visuals is enchanting. Even if he seems several sandwiches short of a picnic.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Never intends to be deeper than a magician's hat, and its wonderfully low-tech stop-motion technique is not only a nod to Czech animator Jan Svankmajer but a tacit rebuke to computer-graphics-heavy fantasies such as "The Chronicles of Narnia" or the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

I think it's a mess, but - and this is a major caveat - an endearing, beautiful, hopelessly honest mess that's supported by a pair of performances so unnaturally natural that they draw you in and clutch you, struggling, to their flipping, flopping hearts.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

This pop-up book of a film is an ideal arrangement between director and star.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

The title is all that's boring about director Michel Gondry's latest mind bender, as trippy as LSD.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The look of the film is dazzling, even hallucinatory, and the concept is beyond quirky as conceived by Gondry, a talented visual stylist, in his first film based on his own script. The story is compelling, unconventional and diverting in its blurring of reality and fantasy.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Unlike Gondry's previous features, Human Nature and Eternal Sunshine, Science lacks the sturdy armature of a Charlie Kaufman screenplay to support its eccentricities. The flood of delight in the film's first 90 minutes slowed to a trickle and, finally, a drip.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It only works about half the time, but it's an interesting half.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Fusing animation and live action with a series of outrageous props, Gondry veers dangerously close to being precious. But make no mistake: Gondry's hallucinatory brilliance holds you in thrall.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

So while The Science of Sleep may not, in the end, be terribly deep, it is undoubtedly -- and deeply -- refreshing.

Variety Todd McCarthy

With Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal energetically playing a vulnerable graphic artist with a hyperactive imagination and little confidence with women, picture has an overriding quality of sweetness that will prove endearing to audiences, especially younger females.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The Science of Sleep is like a weird dream that tugs at the memory throughout the day with its intriguing, misshapen pieces.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The result is a charming, inventive, ambitious, surreal mess.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason McBride

It's this edge that saves The Science of Sleep from its own whimsy.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Watching it is like being the only non-stoned person in the room as someone tells a long, long story.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Certainly pleasant, and occasionally endearing, but it's also strangely empty and unsatisfying, like hearing about someone else's wild dream: You can appreciate the details, but you don't really care how it turns out.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

What "Eternal Sunshine" did with magic and whimsy, The Science of Sleep accomplishes with confusion and pretentiousness.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

A frantic and funny diversion, but it pales and tires before its time is up. It doesn't know the meaning of enough.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The Science of Sleep transports you, but it strands you, too. Apart from the time-machine bit and two or three other daft exchanges, Gondry’s scenes tend to circle around the same drain: the hero’s insufferable narcissism.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

You have to identify pretty strongly with suffering artistes to find anything to root for in The Science of Sleep.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 58 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Liam W. gave it a3:
This movie is a huge disappointment. So much "art" was put into this, but it was basically bits of a music video inserted into a terrible plot. None of the characters are all that memorable or likable, and the story (If you could call it that) was shallow and pointless. Very overrated.

Matt C gave it a10:
Well, i do Strongly the believe the movie, alone, is a good and interesting movie. But to personally mention, I think the response depends on the situation you, the viewer, are in. For example, if you have feelings for someone and have interest in him/her, the movie probably will suck you into it's imaginative world. The film depicts the sadness but warmth feeling of 2 people's elevating yet confusing love for each other.It's a peaceful film. Full of imagination and creativity. It's its own little world. Although a good movie as it is, it may sadden you in specific parts. But that's what makes a good movie. Overall, To understand & enjoy the movie, you will have to be in subtle peace and relaxation and must just let the film convince you hat is happening is real.

John B. gave it an8:
This is a fantastic movie packed with quiet and subtle points as well as loud and obvious visual confusion. There is definitely plenty here to grab onto and think about. It is just a matter of sifting through the relentless changes in scenes from the mind of Stephanie, his dream world, and his reality. This mess made me feel like I missed something along the way, but perhaps and more likely, the movie was too deep to fully grasp, which isn't exactly a bad thing.

Joe gave it a9:
Doze off... hardly. I stayed up well past my bedtime to watch this almost perfect film. A must see for those of us who like to think during and after viewing a film.

D gave it a10:
Once again, Michel Gondry makes a film WAY to good for the fumbling masses. "Sleep" is unimaginably inventive, puts pretty much every other movie on the shelf to shame in terms of artistic vision. Gael Garcia Bernal is fantastic, and so is the rest of the awesome cast, who along with Gondry's inimitable brand of movie magic conjure up pretty much the most moving, enteraining, wildly hallucinatory and gloriously whimsical film you will see until, well, Gondry's next. If however, you have your nose pointed tersely in the air and wish to see a serious film that doesn't have all that bothersome ingenuity, genuine emotion and heartfelt innocence, proceed past the Science of Sleep to The Departed or the like, and let someone else have the cathartic experience viewing the latest Gondry masterpiece.

Andy gave it a7:
I'd give this a 6.5. It was entertaining at most times but boring occasionally as well. Outstanding visually but the film does seem a bit pretentious.

Alek T. gave it a9:
Charming, hilarious, and sad. It says a lot about how a person’s mentality and mental instability affect their capacity for relationships and happiness; Stephane’s overpowering imagination makes him lovable, but it also makes it impossible for him to be in love. This movie isn’t getting enough love. Maybe it just isn’t “obvious” enough. Why do people have such trouble with anything that strays from the classic narrative structure? Why is everyone so quick to label anything different as pretentious?

Science of Sleep, The Warner Independent Pictures

Science of Sleep, The
Warner Independent Pictures